Editing 1947 flying disc craze (section)

===Initial reports===
{{main|Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting}}
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On June 24, 1947, private pilot [[Kenneth Arnold]] claimed that he saw a string of nine, shiny [[unidentified flying objects]] flying past [[Mount Rainier]] at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour (1,932&nbsp;km/h). This was the first post-[[World War II]] sighting in the United States that garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of [[UFO sightings]], including numerous reported sightings over the next two to three weeks. Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms ''[[flying saucer]]'' and ''flying disc'' as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.<ref name="auto21">Peebles p. 7-12</ref>

When Arnold landed in Yakima, he described what he had seen to a number of pilot friends, who suggested that maybe he had seen guided missiles or a new airplane being secretly developed by the United States Army.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=ddB7do2jUx8C&dat=19470627&printsec=frontpage|title=Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search|website=News.google.com|access-date=24 June 2022}}</ref>
After refueling, he continued on his way to an air show in [[Pendleton, Oregon]].  He was first interviewed by reporters the next day (June 25), when he went to the office of the ''[[East Oregonian]]'' in Pendleton.<ref>Lagrange, Pierre (1988), [https://pierrelagrangesociologie.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/lagrange-impossiblebut-spencerevans-1988.pdf "It Seems Impossible, but There It Is"], in John Spencer & Hilary Evans (eds.), ''Phenomenon: From Flying Saucers to UFOs – Forty Years of Facts and Research''. London: Futura Publications, 1988, pp. 26–45.</ref> Any skepticism the reporters might have harbored evaporated when they interviewed Arnold at length,<ref>Lagrange, Pierre (1998), [https://pierrelagrangesociologie.files.wordpress.com/1998/12/lagrange-interviewwithbillbequette-iur-internationaluforeporter-winer1998-copie-2.pdf A Moment in History: An Interview with Bill Bequette], ''International UFO Reporter'', Vol. 23, n° 4, Winter, pp. 15, 20</ref> as historian [[Mike Dash]] records:<ref>Dash, Mike, ''Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown''; Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2000; {{ISBN|0-87951-724-7}}</ref>

:Arnold had the makings of a reliable witness. He was a respected businessman and experienced pilot...and seemed to be neither exaggerating what he had seen, nor adding sensational details to his report. He also gave the impression of being a careful observer...These details impressed the newspapermen who interviewed him and lent credibility to his report.

{{external media|audio1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0D8eAm8h2Y Kenneth Arnold radio interview], June 1947}}
The following day, Arnold was interviewed on the radio about his sighting and his story was published in afternoon and evening editions of regional papers.<ref name="Bloecher"/><ref name="auto33">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54076142/kenneth-arnold-ufo-sighting-june-25/|title=Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting June 25, 1947|newspaper=Corvallis Gazette-Times |date=June 25, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>  By June 26, Arnold's story was being widely reported throughout the United States.<ref name="auto21"/>

====Additional reports====
{{Flying disc craze of 1947 map of reports - Jun 26}}

Arnold's report was the first of many.<ref>Peebles - chapter 2</ref>  On June 26, press reported that Byron Savage of Oklahoma City had seen a flying disc about six weeks prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624257337/|title=26 Jun 1947, 1 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Bloecher">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBJDAAAAIAAJ|title=Report on the UFO Wave of 1947|first=Ted|last=Bloecher|date=April 7, 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmFVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=Flying Saucers Over America: The UFO Craze of 1947|first=Gordon|last=Arnold|date=December 3, 2021|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476687667 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  That same day, press reported that a Kansas City carpenter named W. I. Davenport recalled having seen nine discs while working on a roof the prior Wednesday.<ref name="auto35">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/564372494/|title=26 Jun 1947, 1 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto53">G. Arnold, Ch. 4</ref>  Also on June 26, photographer E.H. Sprinkle of Eugene, Oregon reported having attempted to take a photograph of a formation of nine bright objects in the prior weeks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11961250/flying-discs/|title=flying discs|newspaper=The Courier-Journal |date=June 27, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto37">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11713669/case-13-e-h-sprinkle/|title=Case # 13 E. H. Sprinkle|newspaper=The Eugene Guard |date=June 26, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> 
<ref name="auto12">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624259269/|title=28 Jun 1947, 4 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto59">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IINjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106|title=Washington Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries|first=Lynn|last=Bragg|date=September 1, 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493016044 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

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====Pacific Northwest reports amid jet speculation====
June 27 saw reports of past sightings from a housewife in Bremerton, a home-builder in Bellingham, a motorist and his family from Wenatachee, a couple from Salem, and a woman from Yakima.<ref name="auto22">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/768897049/|title=27 Jun 1947, 1 - The Bellingham Herald at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto59"/>

On June 28, press nationwide reported the opinion of Army rocket expert Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner, who speculated the "discs" were jet airplanes; Turner explained that "the jet planes' circular exhaust glows brightly when heated and might easily appear to be discs at a distance.<ref name="auto56">Arnold, G. p.30</ref><ref name="auto63">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/17214707/|title=28 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The Gallup Independent at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on June 28, original disc witness Kenneth Arnold publicly criticized the lack of any official investigation into his sighting.  Said Arnold: "If I was running the country and someone reported something unusual, I'd certainly want to know more about it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/701792044/|title=30 Jun 1947, 1 - The Fresno Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
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====Reports throughout the West====
On June 28, the Denver Post reported on a crew of seven railway workers in Colorado Springs who claimed to have seen a disc the prior May.<ref name="Bloecher"/>  Also on June 28, press covered reports from a mother and son in Seattle, three airport employees in [[Cedar City]], a family near Boise, an optometrist in El Paso, a dentist in [[Silver City, New Mexico|Silver City]] and a railroad engineer in Joliet; all claimed to have seen discs.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624259174/|title=28 Jun 1947, 1 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto38">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/797769263/|title=28 Jun 1947, 1 - El Paso Herald-Post at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/50526757/|title=28 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The San Bernardino County Sun at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto12"/>

====Potential explanations offered====
{{Flying disc craze of 1947 map of reports - Jun 29}}
Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner of the [[White Sands Proving Ground]] publicly initially speculated the discs "must have been" jet airplanes but later told press that the New Mexico flying disc reports were the result of meteorites.<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto40">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/10286931/|title=29 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The Mexia Daily News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 28, Washington-based ironworks operator Ray Taro speculated that the "flying discs" were caused by his foundry, which had been melting bottlecaps, expelling "little aluminum discs" which were blown out of the foundry smoke stacks.<ref name="auto54">Spartanburg Herald, South Carolina - 28 Jun 47</ref><ref name="auto44">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/138615089/|title=29 Jun 1947, Page 1 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 28, Oklahoma sightings were revealed as handbills released from an airplane.<ref name="auto55">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/774335922/|title=29 Jun 1947, 17 - Wichita Falls Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
[[File:COL Harold Turner.jpg|thumb|right|Col. Harold R. Turner, commander of the White Sands Proving Ground, speculated the reports were caused by rockets or meteors.]]

By June 29, one source reported that "These discs, some people suggest, may presage an invasion from Mars."<ref name="feof6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/503032645/|title=29 Jun 1947, 12 - Carlsbad Current-Argus at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Others suggested the discs were Russian weapons, akin to the [[Fu-Go balloon bomb|incendiary balloons released by the Japanese]] to cross the Pacific and explode in the US.<ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto9">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/210766243/|title=6 Jul 1947, Page 30 - The Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto10">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ3BBAAAQBAJ|title=Mirage Men: A Journey into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs.|first=Mark|last=Pilkington|date=July 29, 2010|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781849012409 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  Speculation suggested that the Navy's experimental [[Flying Flapjack]] might be responsible for disc sightings.<ref name="auto11">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/797769397/|title=30 Jun 1947, 1 - El Paso Herald-Post at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 30, one Oregon preacher suggested that the discs were "the 'advance guard' of universal disaster, heralding the end of the world".<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/628197575/|title=1 Jul 1947, 4 - Lodi News-Sentinel at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 1, Air Force intelligence officer Col. [[Alfred Kalberer]] and astronomer [[Oscar Monnig]] briefed press to provide reassurance that "we're not being invaded by little platter-like planes from Mars".<ref name="JulKalberer" >{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/636946287/|title=1 Jul 1947, 6 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Monnig described the sightings as "an interesting study in human psychology", arguing that after upon hearing Arnold's initial report, a colleague laughed and predicted "Watch the reports pour in now, from all across the country, from people who will imagine they have seen these things, too".<ref name="JulKalberer" />  Kalberer cited the [[Orson Welles]] broadcast and the [[May 1947 Tokyo Sea Monster broadcast]].<ref name="JulKalberer" /> Kalberer joked that he wished "someone would [[Salting a bird's tail|put salt on the tail]] of one of these discs and catch it like our grandmothers used to tell us to do if we wished to catch a bird",  adding "They're such friendly little discs.  They seem to flip around and do all sorts of kittenish antics".<ref name="JulKalberer" />

Also on July 1, headlines like "Flying Disc Deal 'Solved'" reported that a flying disc had been recovered in New Mexico after a local man chased the object until it landed.  The object was identified as a "five by eight inch piece of tinfoil".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/79807919/|title=1 Jul 1947, Page 2 - The Post-Register at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  In San Angelo, on July 2 the press relayed a report from Ivy T. Young who speculated that his hobby of releasing silvery balloons with his name attached may have been responsible for the disc sightings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/781616993/|title=2 Jul 1947, 1 - San Angelo Standard-Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>